I see a few near the coast on google. I was told they were planted large fronting a nice and big Hotel. They have the "coconut juuuuust making it look" like what you see in the California desert. Interesting that those Coconuts had tall Howea palms next to them. But,yes,I would trade for the Brisbane climate. Ironic that here in the bay area we also have a city named Brisbane. Its a very cool ,mild climate..not Brisbane like in summer!

Hi, My tree is out of control (I know there are worse problems to have). Last winter I could barely fit it into my house - it almost touched the ceiling! So, I know it's not going to fit this year, so I'm going to need to cut it down, but I'm nervous about how to cut it. The trunk is way too large to cut with pruning sheers. The trunk is 5-6 inches around. My husband said he'd just cut it with his reciprocating saw, but I'm worried that will be too harsh for the plant. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I already have several "cuttings" from it from when it's been blown over by the wind and branches broke off. Is it normal for a tree to have different color blooms from year to year? Last year was the first time it bloomed and it had beautiful pink flowers (see picture). This year when it bloomed it had creamy white blooms (see picture). With the plant being so tall, I couldn't even get near them to smell their beautiful fragrance! Oh yeah, one more question that I believe was already answered, but I want to make sure I understand correctly. Since the tree is so tall, can I cut the trunk into three pieces - so the middle will be cut from both ends - and the it will grow.., right? I'm relatively new to plumeria growing, but due to plants falling over, now I have 4 or 5 plants, but so far, only one - my original plant - has flowered. (The really tall one.) I have no idea why these pictures came out SO BIG, but you get the idea. Those pictures were taken last season. They've been outside all summer, so I know they're taller now.

Hi Nk777, I agree with aimar. You really need to watch your fertilizers. The middle number should be higher than the rest. If the owner before fed it a higher nitrogen fertilizer, than this alone could have been the problem, combined with weather it was in a sunny location. So many things that can affect the plumeria. Me myself, I was never succesfull until I bought an actual plumeria blend fertilizer. A lot of people will say that it isn't necessary. All I know is once I used it, I had blooms. In fact, I had blooms on cuttings that had just rooted last summer. Another thing to really consider. I know this will sound strange but I swear to this and if you check out the Aloha Plumeria group on Yahoo, you will see that many of us there also swear to this. It is called the "Raw Egg Method". This is used to root plumeria cuttings, but also to use for established and growing trees. basically whenever you repot this plumeria, you take a whole raw egg, shell and all, and you put it on about an inch of soil in the bottom of the pot. then you fill with the rest of your soil add your plumeria, and pot up as usual. I know it sounds strange, but many people have done this and reported the same results. The all ready rooted tree will build larger and healthier roots. They will find there way to that egg and dissolve the nutrients in the egg, which in turn feed the plumeria. If you go to the Aloha plumeria group, you can see pics of people's plumerias and see for yourself how the roots grow like crazy. I really believe that the nutrition in the egg is what made my plumeria cuttings bloom there first year. Another trick that may sound a little odd is to use small spears of banana peels. Mimi the moderator of the Aloha group just told me about this. I had bought a Penang Peach plumeria in November. When it arrived, it was loaded with buds. All the buds had opened and dropped by mid Decemeber. I want to say around the first week of December was when I had given this a try. I just made a whole with a bamboo pole that I use for support, and made a hole about 3-4 inches down, and I dropped the peel in, and buried it. Now, I have around 50 buds and 2 are open now. these flowers are a lot bigger than the original flowers that bloomed in Novemeber. I did have a guy tell me to be carefull with this when growing indoors. He had said that he tried it and ended up with an ant problem but I have yet to see an ant yet and it has been about a month since I added them to my 'Penang Peach' and to my 'Dwarf Singapore Pink' plumeria. Andrew

wow...thanks for that link. i'll give it a good reading... we've had a pityful summer, true. barely breaking 25 degrees. nothing short of lacklustre, but anyway... i posted the same post on the american aspect of this site, under the 'plumeria' section, and a guy posted back this clever technique which shows if your frangipani cutting is on the way out. he explains that if you prick the cutting down at the bottom, near the 'cut', it should bleed white sap. if it doesn't keep pricking all the way up the cutting until you find a spot where it bleeds. here is where you re-cut the cutting, and allow it do dry out again...i have two cuttings that are kinda squishy when i squeeze them, and i'm pretty much bracing myself for the worst. these cuttings however bleed down the bottom of the cutting. they don't bleed all that viscously, but they bleed. i was wondering if you guys had any suggestions for a 'resurrection', if possible... heh...i have been taking photos of the frangis' growing progress. i doubt they would make anything other than 'quaint' reading/viewing matter, as they are really small and nothing too special looking. i guess they could serve as "you can grow frangipanis in melbourne too!" confirmation photos or something...heh. thanks for the tips, mm...